Communist Caribbean

A fruit market in Havana sells vegetables and other items once had to get in Cuba's capital. Tourism with the United States is reopening after a crackdown in 2003. Text by GARY A. WARNER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER; PHOTO BY FRILET PATRICK, ZUMAPRESS.COM

The mojitos were in our hands, and we could see the shimmering blue of the Caribbean stretching out from Havana.

But this was no ordinary island vacation.

Television cameras whirred as a group of Americans checked into Havana's stately Hotel Nacional, as history was being made – by us.

Except for a brief period from 2000-2003, this was the first time in 50 years that average Americans could legally visit Cuba.

The trip, through Insight Cuba, would highlight Havana, Santiago de Cuba for arts and music, Trinidad on Cuba's southern coast for colonial charm and Pinar del Rio for its rural natural beauty.

The group of 30 Americans included a goat farmer, a psychologist, a wine expert, a social worker, an entrepreneur, a hospital administrator, a stock adviser, a lawyer and more. Their common denominator? They were all experienced travelers. They all were fine with the requirement that the trip focus on cultural activities, not beaches or leisure, although one man wistfully asked, "Any chance of playing golf?"

So I sipped my mojito and let the August heat seep into my bones. I was excited. And slightly worried about the dour rules of the trip.

And also already in love with Havana.

Havana, one of the great Spanish colonial cities of the New World, is like an exotic orchid with a few wilted petals. Fifty years of communism hasn't been kind to its upkeep, although Old Havana, its fortress, the neighborhood of Miramar and the Revolution Square area are splendid.

The city of 2.2 million sprawls cheerfully in all directions, part pastel, part crumbling ruin, elegant in its promise of what was and could be again.

In the next few days, we would get the complete tour of the city founded in 1515. But the first order of business was a lecture.

At Friendship House – the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples – the group got a warm welcome, then a blunt description of Cuba's suffering because of U.S. policies and "terrorism." Then came a far more nuanced talk by Carolos Alzugaray, a professor and expert on Cuba-U.S. relations, about the complex issues that bind and divide the two countries and the 50-year-old U.S. trade embargo.

Journalists, academics and people with family in Cuba have long been able to travel there, but tourism has been off-limits to the rest of Americans, even though 2.5 million tourists from other nations routinely vacation in Cuba each year.

Yet times are changing, Alzugaray said: "Cuba is undergoing a major economic transformation. For foreign relations, Cuba is in its best moment."

His advice for the U.S.? "If you want to influence a country, you have to be present."

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A fruit market in Havana sells vegetables and other items once had to get in Cuba's capital. Tourism with the United States is reopening after a crackdown in 2003. Text by GARY A. WARNER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER; PHOTO BY FRILET PATRICK, ZUMAPRESS.COM
In a city known for its 1950s automobiles, this odd taxi is one of the many ways the country is trying to become more friendly to foreign tourists who are an important source of revenue for the Castro government. Text by GARY A. WARNER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER; PHOTO BY ELLEN CREAGER, THE DETROIT FREE PRESS
A dancing troupe performs for tourists in Havana. With the collapse of the Soviet Union ten years ago, Cuba has struggled to find ways to obtain revenue. Tourism from the United States is once again a bargaining chip between the two long-time adversaries. Text by GARY A. WARNER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER; Photo by ELLEN CREAGER, THE DETROIT FREE PRESS
A poster celebrates Fidel Castro, who has ruled Cuba since 1959. Recently in bad health, Castro has turned over day-to-day control to his brother and fellow revolutionary, Raul. But Fidel remains the inspiration for those who still believe in the movement. Text by GARY A. WARNER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER; REGISTER FILE PHOTO
A streetcorner haircut in Havana. People have learned to make do with many "luxuries" that most Americans take for granted. Text by GARY A. WARNER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER; Photo by ELLEN CREAGER, THE DETROIT FREE PRESS
Musicians on El Malecon, the great street that runs along the edge of Havana and is a central draw for international visitors. PHOTO BY TORRIONE STEFANO, ZUMAPRESS; Text by GARY A. WARNER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Cojimar village near Havana reflects the long history of the island, which included rule by Spain and intervention by the United States over the past 200 years. PHOTO BY TORRIONE STEFANO, ZUMAPRESS; Text by GARY A. WARNER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
El Floridita was one of the favorite hangouts for American writer Ernest Hemingway, who visited and even lived in Cuba. The writer's many haunts are part of the tourist trade targeting Americans who visit Cuba under a new tourism program approved by the U.S. governement.'s most favourite PHOTO BY TORRIONE STEFANO, ZUMAPRESS; TEXT BY GARY A. WARNER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Matanzas Province, Varadero. Cuba is less than 90 minutes by air from parts of Florida and features many world-class beaches. The 1959 revolution has kept Cuba a tourism backwater compared to neighbors like the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. PHOTO BY GARDEL BERTRAND, ZUMAPRESS; TEXT BY GARY A. WARNER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Portraits and posters of Che Guevara, the Argentine born revolutionary who helped Castro seize power, can still be seen throughout Cuba. He went to South America to fight on the side of rebels and was killed in Bolivia in 1967. Text by GARY A. WARNER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER; PHOTO BY ELLEN CREAGER, THE DETROIT FREE PRESS
A boy jumps into the water at the Malecon in Havana.Just about anywhere else in the world, it would be a playground for the wealthy, diners in four-star restaurants and tourists willing to spend hundreds of dollars a night for a million-dollar view. But along the seafront boulevard, many buildings are dank, labyrinthine tenements bursting four or five times beyond capacity, plagued by mold and reeking of backed-up sewer drains. PHOTO AND TEXT BY JAVIER GALEANO, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Soviet missile equipment being loaded at the Mariel naval port in Cuba on Nov. 5, 1962. The photos were evidence that Fidel Castro was allowing Moscow to set up ballistic missiles less than 100 miles from the United States. The port would later become famous for the 1970s "boat lift" in which Castro sent both political prisoners, economic refugees and common criminals to the United States as a pseudo-humanitarian effort. TEXT BY GARY A. WARNER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER; ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO
Fidel Castro, 30, a former law student, leading rebels in Cuba in early 1957. Two years later, Castro would seize power. By 1962, he had sided with the Soviets in the Cold War and had allowed Moscow to import ballistic missiles that could attack the United States, less than 100 miles away. The Cuban Missile Crisis almost brought on World War III TEXT BY GARY A. WARNER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER; ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO
A tired, ill Fidel Castro at the 6th Communist Party Congress in Havana last April. Famous for long-winded speaches and rambling opinion pieces in newspapers, he's dropped out of sight and stopped writing in the past year. He handed over official power to his brother, Raul. TEXT BY GARY A. WARNER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER; PHOTO BY JAVIER GALEANO, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Classic cars let visitors to Havana, Cuba, step back in time. PHOTO AND TEXT BY ELLEN CREAGER, THE DETROIT FREE PRESS

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